A Day in the life of a Shrine Worker.
Leon Kostopoulous
Leon Kostopoulous
Hello residents of Karakura, my name is Leon Kostopoulous, Kosto for short and I'm here today to talk to all of you about A day in the life of people in Karakura. Karakura is a bustling town of people, you can find a variety of different activities and jobs all around the city, the town flourishes off work, and it's all a part of life. Today, I'm here to take you through the life of someone who works in religious practice, the Shrine workers of Karakura.
These wonderful workers spend their time working up in the Monastery, Making sure to Please the Kami and working to support any one who comes up, whether it be too make an offering, have a Tarot reading done or even write a prayer on the ema wall, I was lucky enough to be given a full tour and experience of a shrine worker, and I wanted too be able to show everyone my experience, so please come and see what it's like to work as a shrine worker, and remember, if you would like to see what it is like firsthand, the monastery can be found in the forest and is welcome too everyone.
[!] Quick little break! Big flashy ad about 11/7 and its variety of groceries [!]
[!]An audio recording would begin, There would be no video yet, rather Photos of the shrine flashed the screen[!]
[Leon] “Good Afternoon Karakura, currently as i'm recording this it is Tuesday and 40 degrees outside, i recommend bundling up for the weather, today i'm here with one of the wonderful shrine workers, Would you mind telling us your name
[Hanae] “Hanae Tominaga!”
[Leon] “Wonderful, thank you! Before we get into any questions, I wanted to ask how you’re doing, anything you want to talk about? Whatever may be on your mind.”
[Hanae] “Ah! I am doing quite well thank you for asking. The only thing currently on my mind is excitement! Just before this interview we had a wedding at the monastery and it was lovely. How are you?”
[Leon] “I’ve been doing pretty nicely! Pretty chilly out though and i must say, im not really use to the cold yet. . . I’d like to ask a bit about the wedding, if you could explain it a bit more to any viewers that may not know.”
[Hanae] “Oh? Sure thing! Shinto weddings are quite a bit different from say a church style wedding. For one, as you witnessed. We pass bowls filled with sake around. We call this the San Ken no gi. It’s the same concept of exchanging rings, A lot of the practices are Catered to shintoism. For example, at the beginning of the wedding, the groom and bride bowed their heads, accepting a blessing from our kami.”
[Leon] “Who knew something as simple as a wedding could be so beautiful. . . thank you for sharing! Now, I want to get more into the common occurrences of working here. What would you say is something you would expect from working here?”
[Hanae] “Well for the most part, a lot of mystery surrounds Shintoism, the religion here at the monastery. Oftentimes people will visit to participate in the practices we have here. Usually I'll spend my days interacting with guests and cleaning the shrine. We offer a lot of activities! Such as drinking tea, prayer and offering, tarot card readings, emas and we even have a gift shop!”
[Leon] “Well you don't say? If you don't mind, I'd like to go around and see some of the activities you offer here. Would you mind showing me? And perhaps explain a bit more about it?”
[Hanae] “Of course! I’ll give you a small tour. Firstly, we are currently stood in the tea house, this is where most guests come and relax. We serve tea and other goodies. We also use this place to teach guests about shintoism and converse! Now then, Why dont we go take a look around!
[!]The photos of the shrine flashing would be cut off, turning into video footage, the footage currently showing a maiden, followed into another building filled with boards on the walls and a gift shop in the back.[!]
[Hanae] “This building is for our ema wall as well as our store. Emas are wishes or blessings people write to our Kami. They’re written across the wood as you can see. Anyone is welcome to write them! Why don't we continue upwards.”
[!]The camera would continue to roll as the maiden and reporter went up the stairs, passing under a torii gate, the maiden would bow before continuing up, putting them in a building with an offering box.[!]
[Hanae] “Alright, this is our offering hall. It is one of the most important buildings in our monastery, we do many ceremonies here including weddings. This building is mostly for praying and offerings! If you’d like I can walk you through how to do an offering!”
[Leon] “Well of course.”
[!]The maiden would then explain how to do an offering and the steps to take, this would follow with the maiden taking hold of the camera, and filming Leon doing an offering himself[!]
[Hanae] Well, Why don’t we continue!
[!]The two continued down the path, veering left as they entered what appeared to be a dojo[!]
[Leon] “Ohhh, Dojo! When I was younger, I used to be an architect. We found old little dojos like this in abandoned towns trying to discover any extinct wildlife bo- . . excuse me, sorry for going off topic there.”
[Hanae] “No worries! Stories make things more exciting. This is where many Karakura Citizens come to train in martial arts, it's a very exciting spectacle, it has two floors. The first floor is more open and the top floor has a few training dummies, i personally am not very experienced in the field but I heard it creates meditation, it really just depends on how you exert the practice.”
[Leon] “I see, If i had to describe meditation i’d say its exploration, anyway why dont we continue on.”
[!]The camera continues to follow down the path, taking in the scenery as they make it to a tiny little building by the mountainside[!]
[Hanae] “And finally, this is what I like to call the tarot Gazebo! Although we dont have an official name for it. Here we do a very popular activity, We do card readings for guests. These are usually about one's future although reading can really be about anything! Many people get a reading about their love life, a past and present reading, general future, things like that!
[Leon] Well, I feel you know what I’ll ask next.
[Hanae] “indeed I do! Please, sit”
[!] The camera would prop up on the table facing the two sitting, as she began to give him the reading, Leon would say Future, as she read out his fortune, Leon clearly was a little upset with his reading, the two would then stand and Leon would take the camera [!]
[Leon] “well, is there anything else you’d like to show me and the viewers?”
[Hanae] “There's a few more things, but i think we should leave a bit for mystery to our shrine. That way people come to visit. I think that’s about everything! Thank you so much for the interview at our shrine.”
[Leon] “I like that idea! How about we go back down to the tree? I have one more question to ask you and any shrine members.”
[!]The footage would be cut for a moment, two Maidens would be standing in front of the camera, a full view of the shrine could be seen behind them[!]
[Leon] “I know you weren't here for the interview, so would you mind telling me your name?”
[Sora] “Sora Mirosaki-Lim, Or just. . Sora.”
[Leon] “Wonderful, So for my final question, if you both had too describe working here with one word, what would it be.”
[!]the two would think for a moment, before speaking up[!]
[Hanae] “Spiritual, in a way that its Calm here, and at the same time with the Kami!”
[Sora] “Amazing.”
[Leon] “Well, thank you two for your time, it was an amazing experience, and for the people watching at home, if you ever need a place to clear your head or anything, visit the shrine! This is Leon Kostopoulous reporting from Karakura News, have a great day!”
[!] The video would cut [!]
